Those of us w/'13+ Leafs have a % SoC indicator on the dash. (Sorry, I have no means of reading gids.)

I know it's been stated that LBW sounds at ~17-18% and VLBW at 7-8%. In the past, I found that was true, but recently, I had VLBW sound at 9%. My Leaf's a bit past a year old now.

Post here here if you've seen LBW and VLBW sounding outside 17-18% or 7-8%, respectively. I'm curious if those % values rise as the battery degrades.

I believe on that 9% sounding, I had only a single charge to 100% w/balancing (?, the bounce behavior after it hits 0 and no more bouncing). I had driven a bunch and done a bit of charging here and there after that but no more 100% charges before hitting VLBW.

edit: Edited titled to include turtle.

Last edited by cwerdna on Mon Sep 15, 2014 2:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Well, the '15 is new, and I've only had LBW once so far, and that at 13% on the dash, but I was on the highway at the time, doing 80, so that's probably why. LeafStat said I had 22% and 40 Gids. GOM read 13 miles, which is bout right for 40 Gids for me.

Since LBW and VLBW occur at an absolute fixed energy level (49 and 24 Gids, respectively), and energy represented by each SOC percent varies with relative battery capacity, the SOC point at which the two warnings trigger will vary... That is likely what you are seeing.

cwerdna wrote:Those of us w/'13+ Leafs have a % SoC indicator on the dash. (Sorry, I have no means of reading gids.)I know it's been stated that LBW sounds at ~17-18% and VLBW at 7-8%. In the past, I found that was true, but recently, I had VLBW sound at 9%.

TomT wrote:Since LBW and VLBW occur at an absolute fixed energy level (49 and 24 Gids, respectively), and energy represented by each SOC percent varies with relative battery capacity, the SOC point at which the two warnings trigger will vary... That is likely what you are seeing.

cwerdna wrote:Those of us w/'13+ Leafs have a % SoC indicator on the dash. (Sorry, I have no means of reading gids.)I know it's been stated that LBW sounds at ~17-18% and VLBW at 7-8%. In the past, I found that was true, but recently, I had VLBW sound at 9%.

That would be why I hit 50 Gids today but no LBW with the Leaf SOC reading 19%. I am starting to monitor the GIDs and kwh in conjunction with the amp/h more closely now (had Leaf spy pro for a couple weeks). Its good to get used to & compare both systems. From what I seen so far, Nissan gauges vary quite a bit depending on conditions.

I truly had range anxiety near home last night. To make a long story short, I figured I'd make it home somewhere past VLBW but before turtle but it was very dismaying to see the % SoC gauge change from either 5% or 6% to --- %. I believe I was still over 2 miles from home, at the time (not sure because my nav's home destination is intentionally set to a street near my house, not my address).

I thought turtle would come on between 1-2% SoC... but I never got to see that due to the change to ---%. So, I was flying blind at that point.

I was worried that out of juice just short of home and need a tow.

At one point, I was headed up a hill up an expressway near my home (speed limit 50 mph). Unfortunately, a truck was tailgating me and I had no choice but to keep my acceleration light up the hill and speed down (~45 mph), for fear of turtling or shutdown while still over 0.5 mile from home.

Having % status of charge is much better than 2011 / 2012, but still much better to have LEAF Spy to read GIDS and individual cell pair voltages.Turtle is based on lowest cell voltage.So you were lucky to make it up that hill even at 45 mph.

cwerdna wrote:I truly had range anxiety near home last night. To make a long story short, I figured I'd make it home somewhere past VLBW but before turtle but it was very dismaying to see the % SoC gauge change from either 5% or 6% to --- %. I believe I was still over 2 miles from home, at the time (not sure because my nav's home destination is intentionally set to a street near my house, not my address).

I thought turtle would come on between 1-2% SoC... but I never got to see that due to the change to ---%. So, I was flying blind at that point.

I was worried that out of juice just short of home and need a tow.

At one point, I was headed up a hill up an expressway near my home (speed limit 50 mph). Unfortunately, a truck was tailgating me and I had no choice but to keep my acceleration light up the hill and speed down (~45 mph), for fear of turtling or shutdown while still over 0.5 mile from home.

You really need to get LeafSpy ($10 for OBDII bluetooth adapter, +25 for Kyocera Event phone-(no monthly fee if you don't use it for making phone calls) if you don't have a Bluetooth android phone or tablet already). Until then it is helpful to know that the last fuel bar disappears at about 4-5 miles before turtle, assuming you are driving at 30mph or less and your battery is not seriously degraded.

Last edited by stjohnh on Mon Sep 15, 2014 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Blessings,Holland

2 LEAFS, bought 1 week apart. 2013 S for me, 2013 SV is wife's. Both manufactured May 2013. I lost first bar at 36,000. Wife still has all bars at 50,000.

TimLee wrote:...Having % status of charge is much better than 2011 / 2012, but still much better to have LEAF Spy to read GIDS and individual cell pair voltages...

Yes, yes, and yes!

I'm sure glad I snagged one of GregH's Leaf DD devices while he was making them. Not as versatile as LEAF Spy but easier to use. Having Gids and cell-pair voltages changes how one can use the bottom part of the battery.

The amount of range below VLBW is pretty substantial — perhaps even more in 2013s than older models, according to some reports — so I don't think there was much risk at 45 mph for a couple of miles. But it would have been nice to know for sure.

TimLee wrote:...Having % status of charge is much better than 2011 / 2012, but still much better to have LEAF Spy to read GIDS and individual cell pair voltages...

Yes, yes, and yes!

I'm sure glad I snagged one of GregH's Leaf DD devices while he was making them. Not as versatile as LEAF Spy but easier to use. Having Gids and cell-pair voltages changes how one can use the bottom part of the battery.

The amount of range below VLBW is pretty substantial — perhaps even more in 2013s than older models, according to some reports — so I don't think there was much risk at 45 mph for a couple of miles. But it would have been nice to know for sure.

stjohnh wrote:You really need to get LeafSpy ($10 for OBDII bluetooth adapter, +25 for Kyocera Event phone-(no monthly fee if you don't use it for making phone calls) if you don't have a Bluetooth android phone or tablet already). Until then it is helpful to know that the last fuel bar disappears at about 4-5 miles before turtle, assuming you are driving at 30mph or less and your battery is not seriously degraded.

I don't really need it. This is maybe only the 2nd or 3rd time ever in my over 1 year and 1.5 months that I've had my Leaf that I've cut it close. This was the closest I've cut it, so far. And, it was an unusual case.

It was late at night when dealers were closed and the unusual part was the 7 free J1772 30 amp L2 stations about 5 miles from home were offline for unknown reasons much of the weekend (there were signs up and I saw the signs before embarking on my journey). I can normally top up there if I have anxiety making it home. I couldn't that night due to them being offline.

I already have an Android phone as my secondary phone. I've been extremely busy again today and intermittently much of this year. I don't believe I ever got an answer to viewtopic.php?p=344929#p344929. I'd much rather have something that doesn't kill my 12 volt battery, causing me more issues.